MESSAGE FROM THE QUEEN

My Lords, I have the honour to present to your Lordships a Message from Her Majesty the Queen signed by her own hand. The Message is as follows:

"I have received your Address praying that I will give direction that to mark the bicentennial celebrations of the United States of America there be made on behalf of Parliament to the Congress of the United States, as representative of the American people, a loan for one year of one of the two original copies of Magna Carta dated 1215 AD held by the British Library, that a permanent showcase be presented to the Congress for the display of the document, that the document be replaced at the end of the loan period by a replica, and that the presentation be made by representatives from both Houses of Parliament.

"It gave me the greatest pleasure to learn that your House proposes that this historic occasion be marked in such a way, and I will gladly give directions for carrying your proposals into effect."